Norwegian Ship Rescues 503 Migrants from Med

(AP) – A Norwegian ship has rescued 503 people from the Mediterranean Sea in eight operations since Thursday.

The Norwegian Police Service says the Siem Pilot arrived Sunday in the Sicilian port of Catania with 503 migrants on board. A seriously ill 16-year-old boy died being helped on board, police said.

The agency said the migrants – 358 men, 29 women and 116 children, including babies -sailed from Libya last week in rubber dinghies and wooden boats. It said many of them were injured, some with gunshot wounds, burn injuries and head wounds.

It did not explain the reasons for the wounds or injuries.

Police said two people on board suspected of being human traffickers were detained and handed over to Italian authorities for further investigation.

Norwegian rescue vessels Siem Pilot and Peter Henry von Koss have rescued 59,000 refugees and migrants since spring 2015 in the Mediterranean, in cooperation with the European Union’s border and coast guard agency Frontex.